Methods and systems for relating data structures and object-oriented elements for distributed computing

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems consistent with the present invention provide an improved software development tool which allows a developer to receive an identification of a data structure with an attribute field in a database, determine whether the data structure is associated with source code, if the data structure is associated with the source code, determine whether an attribute field of the data structure is associated with an attribute in the source code, and if the attribute field is not associated with the attribute in the source code, generate the attribute in the source code from the attribute field.

[0001] U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled “Methods andSystems for Animating the Interaction of Objects in an Object OrientedProgram,” bearing attorney docket no. 30013630-0013, and filed on thesame date herewith;

[0002] U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled “Methods andSystems for Supporting and Deploying Distributed Computing Components,”bearing attorney docket no. 30013630-0014, and filed on the same dateherewith;

[0003] U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled “DiagrammaticControl of a Software in a Version Control System,” bearing attorneydocket no. 30013630-0015, and filed on the same date herewith;

[0004] U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled “NavigationLinks in Generated Documentation,” bearing attorney docket no.30013630-0016, and filed on the same date herewith;

[0005] U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled “Methods andSystems for Identifying Dependencies Between Object-Oriented Elements,”bearing attorney docket no. 30013630-0019, and filed on the same dateherewith; and

[0006] U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled “Methods andSystems for Relating a Data Definition File and a Data Model forDistributed Computing,” bearing attorney docket no. 30013630-0020, andfiled on the same date herewith.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The present invention relates generally to data processingsystems and, more particularly, to methods and systems for relating datastructures and object-oriented elements for distributed computing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Computer instructions are written in source code. Although askilled programmer can understand source code to determine what the codeis designed to accomplish, with highly complex software systems, agraphical representation or model of the source code is helpful toorganize and visualize the structure and components of the system. Usingmodels, the complex systems are easily identified, and the structuraland behavioral patterns can be visualized and documented.

[0009] The well-known Unified Modeling Language (UML) is ageneral-purpose notational language for visualizing, specifying,constructing, and documenting complex software systems. UML is used tomodel systems ranging from business information systems to Web-baseddistributed systems, to real-time embedded systems. UML formalizes thenotion that real-world objects are best modeled as self-containedentities that contain both data and functionality. UML is more clearlydescribed in the following references, which are incorporated herein byreference: (1) Martin Fowler, UML Distilled Second Edition: Applying theStandard Object Modeling Language, Addison-Wesley (1999); (2) Booch,Rumbaugh, and Jacobson, The Unified Modeling Language User Guide,Addison-Wesley (1998); (3) Peter Coad, Jeff DeLuca, and Eric Lefebvre,Java Modeling in Color with UML: Enterprise Components and Process,Prentice Hall (1999); and (4) Peter Coad, Mark Mayfield, and JonathanKern, Java Design: Building Better Apps & Applets (2 nd Ed.), PrenticeHall (1998).

[0010] As shown in FIG. 1, conventional software development tools 100allow a programmer to view UML 102 while viewing source code 104. Thesource code 104 is stored in a file, and a reverse engineering module106 converts the source code 104 into a representation of the softwareproject in a database or repository 108. The software project comprisessource code 104 in at least one file which, when compiled, forms asequence of instructions to be run by the data processing system. Therepository 108 generates the UML 102. If any changes are made to the UML102, they are automatically reflected in the repository 108, and a codegenerator 110 converts the representation in the repository 108 intosource code 104. Such software development tools 100, however, do notsynchronize the displays of the UML 102 and the source code 104. Rather,the repository 108 stores the representation of the software projectwhile the file stores the source code 104. A modification in the UML 102does not appear in the source code 104 unless the code generator 110re-generates the source code 104 from the data in the repository 108.When this occurs, the entire source code 104 is rewritten. Similarly,any modifications made to the source code 104 do not appear in the UML102 unless the reverse engineering module 106 updates the repository108. As a result, redundant information is stored in the repository 108and the source code 104. In addition, rather than making incrementalchanges to the source code 104, conventional software development tools100 rewrite the overall source code 104 when modifications are made tothe UML 102, resulting in wasted processing time. This type of manual,large-grained synchronization requires either human intervention, or a“batch” style process to try to keep the two views (the UML 102 and thesource code 104) in sync. Unfortunately, this approach, adopted by manytools, leads to many undesirable side-effects; such as desired changesto the source code being overwritten by the tool. A further disadvantagewith conventional software development tools 100 is that they aredesigned to only work in a single programming language. Thus, a tool 100that is designed for Java™ programs cannot be utilized to develop aprogram in C++. There is a need in the art for a tool that avoids thelimitations of these conventional software development tools.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Methods and systems consistent with the present invention providean improved software development tool that overcomes the limitations ofconventional software development tools. The improved softwaredevelopment tool of the present invention allows a developer tosimultaneously view a graphical and a textual display of source code.The graphical and textual views are synchronized so that a modificationin one view is automatically reflected in the other view. The softwaredevelopment tool is designed for use with more than one programminglanguage.

[0012] The software development tool also saves a developer time andeffort in producing error free code. The software development toolsignificantly reduces programming development time for a developer byallowing the developer to generate or update source code for anobject-oriented element, such as a class or a distributed computingcomponent, from a data structure. Similarly, the software developmenttool saves a developer time that would be spent manually creating a datastructure to map to a previously developed object-oriented element byallowing the developer to form or update a data structure from theobject-oriented element.

[0013] In accordance with methods consistent with the present invention,a method is provided in a data processing system. The data processingsystem has a memory device with source code and a secondary storagedevice with a data structure corresponding to the source code. Themethod comprises the steps of receiving an indication that the datastructure has been modified, and automatically reflecting themodification in the source code so as to avoid completely regeneratingthe source code.

[0014] In accordance with methods consistent with the present invention,a method is provided in a data processing system. The data processingsystem has a memory device with source code and a secondary storagedevice with a data structure corresponding to the source code. Themethod comprises the steps of receiving an indication that the sourcecode has been modified, and automatically reflecting the modification inthe data structure so as to avoid completely regenerating the datastructure.

[0015] In accordance with articles of manufacture consistent with thepresent invention, a computer-readable medium is provided. Thecomputer-readable medium contains instructions for controlling a dataprocessing system to perform a method. The data processing system has amemory device with source code and a secondary storage device with adata structure corresponding to the source code. The method comprisesthe steps of receiving an indication that the data structure has beenmodified, and automatically reflecting the modification in the sourcecode so as to avoid completely regenerating the source code.

[0016] In accordance with articles of manufacture consistent with thepresent invention, a computer-readable medium is provided. Thecomputer-readable medium contains instructions for controlling a dataprocessing system to perform a method. The data processing system has amemory device with source code and a secondary storage device with adata structure corresponding to the source code. The method comprisesthe steps of receiving an indication that the source code has beenmodified, and automatically reflecting the modification in the datastructure so as to avoid completely regenerating the data structure.

[0017] Additional implementations are directed to systems and computerdevices incorporating the methods described above. It is also to beunderstood that both the foregoing general description and the detaileddescription to follow are exemplary and explanatory only and are notrestrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in andconstitute a part of this specification, illustrate an implementation ofthe invention and, together with the description, serve to explain theadvantages and principles of the invention. In the drawings,

[0019]FIG. 1 depicts a conventional software development tool;

[0020]FIG. 2 depicts an overview of a software development tool inaccordance with the present invention;

[0021]FIG. 3 depicts a data structure of the language-neutralrepresentation created by the software development tool of FIG. 2;

[0022]FIG. 4 depicts representative source code;

[0023]FIG. 5 depicts the data structure of the language-neutralrepresentation of the source code of FIG. 4;

[0024]FIG. 6 depicts a data processing system suitable for practicingthe present invention;

[0025]FIG. 7 depicts an architectural overview of the softwaredevelopment tool of FIG. 2;

[0026]FIG. 8A depicts a user interface displayed by the softwaredevelopment tool depicted in FIG. 2, where the user interface displays alist of predefined criteria which the software development tool checksin the source code;

[0027]FIG. 8B depicts a user interface displayed by the softwaredevelopment tool depicted in FIG. 2, where the user interface displaysthe definition of the criteria which the software development toolchecks in the source code, and an example of source code which does notconform to the criteria;

[0028]FIG. 8C depicts a user interface displayed by the softwaredevelopment tool depicted in FIG. 2, where the user interface displaysan example of source code which conforms to the criteria which thesoftware development tool checks in the source code;

[0029]FIG. 9 depicts a flow diagram of the steps performed by thesoftware development tool depicted in FIG. 2;

[0030]FIGS. 10A and 10B depict a flow diagram illustrating the updatemodel step of FIG. 9;

[0031]FIG. 11 depicts a flow diagram of the steps performed by thesoftware development tool in FIG. 2 when creating a class;

[0032]FIG. 12 depicts a user interface displayed by the softwaredevelopment tool depicted in FIG. 2, where the user interface displays ause case diagram of source code;

[0033]FIG. 13 depicts a user interface displayed by the softwaredevelopment tool depicted in FIG. 2, where the user interface displaysboth a class diagram and a textual view of source code;

[0034]FIG. 14 depicts a user interface displayed by the softwaredevelopment tool depicted in FIG. 2, where the user interface displays asequence diagram of source code;

[0035]FIG. 15 depicts a user interface displayed by the softwaredevelopment tool depicted in FIG. 2, where the user interface displays acollaboration diagram of source code;

[0036]FIG. 16 depicts a user interface displayed by the softwaredevelopment tool depicted in FIG. 2, where the user interface displays astatechart diagram of source code;

[0037]FIG. 17 depicts a user interface displayed by the softwaredevelopment tool depicted in FIG. 2, where the user interface displaysan activity diagram of source code;

[0038]FIG. 18 depicts a user interface displayed by the softwaredevelopment tool depicted in FIG. 2, where the user interface displays acomponent diagram of source code;

[0039]FIG. 19 depicts a user interface displayed by the softwaredevelopment tool depicted in FIG. 2, where the user interface displays adeployment diagram of source code;

[0040]FIG. 20 depicts an exemplary data processing system in which theimproved software development tool depicted in FIG. 2 may operate;

[0041] FIGS. 21A-C depicts a flow diagram illustrating an exemplaryprocess performed by the software development tool for generating sourcecode for an object-oriented element from a data structure in a database;

[0042]FIG. 22 depicts a user interface displayed by the softwaredevelopment tool for receiving a request to access a database;

[0043]FIG. 23 depicts a user interface displayed by the softwaredevelopment tool for receiving access information for the database;

[0044]FIG. 24 depicts a user interface displayed by the softwaredevelopment tool, where the user interface displays an identification ofeach data structure stored in the database;

[0045]FIG. 25 depicts a user interface displayed by the softwaredevelopment tool, where the user interface displays an indication of atype of object-oriented element to form from the database;

[0046]FIG. 26 depicts a user interface displayed by the softwaredevelopment tool, where the user interface displays source code for aclass that is generated from a selected data structure in the database;

[0047]FIG. 27 depicts a user interface displayed by the softwaredevelopment tool depicted, where the user interface displays source codefor a Enterprise JavaBean™ that is generated from a selected datastructure in the database;

[0048]FIG. 28 displays the source code for the Enterprise JavaBean™ inFIG. 27 that is generated by the software development tool;

[0049] FIGS. 29A-B depict a flow diagram illustrating an exemplaryprocess performed by the software development tool for updating anobject-oriented element from a related data structure in a database;

[0050]FIG. 30 depicts a user interface displayed by the softwaredevelopment tool, where the user interface displays source code for adistributed computing component that is updated from the related datastructure in the database;

[0051] FIGS. 31A-B depict a flow diagram illustrating an exemplaryprocess performed by the software development tool for forming a datastructure in a database from source code of an object-oriented element.

[0052]FIG. 32 depicts a user interface displayed by the softwaredevelopment tool for receiving a request to form a data structure in adatabase;

[0053]FIG. 33 depicts a user interface displayed by the softwaredevelopment tool for receiving an indication of an object-orientedelement to use to form the data structure;

[0054]FIG. 34 depicts a user interface displayed by the softwaredevelopment tool for receiving access information for the database andfor receiving a request to generate the data structure in the database;

[0055]FIG. 35 depicts a user interface displayed by the softwaredevelopment tool depicted, where the user interface displays a locationfor storing the data structure formed from source code of theobject-oriented element; and

[0056] FIGS. 36A-B depict a flow diagram illustrating an exemplaryprocess performed by the software development tool for updating a datastructure in a database from a related object-oriented element.

[0057] Reference will now be made in detail to the description of theinvention as illustrated in the drawings. While the invention will bedescribed in connection with these drawings, there is no intent to limitit to the embodiment or embodiments disclosed therein. On the contrary,the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalentsincluded within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by theappended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0058] Methods and systems consistent with the present invention providean improved software development tool that creates a graphicalrepresentation of source code regardless of the programming language inwhich the code is written. In addition, the software development toolsimultaneously reflects any modifications to the source code to both thedisplay of the graphical representation as well as the textual displayof the source code.

[0059] As depicted in FIG. 2, source code 202 is being displayed in botha graphical form 204 and a textual form 206. In accordance with methodsand systems consistent with the present invention, the improved softwaredevelopment tool generates a transient meta model (TMM) 200 which storesa language-neutral representation of the source code 202. The graphical204 and textual 206 representations of the source code 202 are generatedfrom the language-neutral representation in the TMM 200. Althoughmodifications made on the displays 204 and 206 may appear to modify thedisplays 204 and 206, in actuality all modifications are made directlyto the source code 202 via an incremental code editor (ICE) 208, and theTMM 200 is used to generate the modifications in both the graphical 204and the textual 206 views from the modifications to the source code 202.

[0060] The improved software development tool provides simultaneousround-trip engineering, i.e., the graphical representation 204 issynchronized with the textual representation 206. Thus, if a change ismade to the source code 202 via the graphical representation 204, thetextual representation 206 is updated automatically. Similarly, if achange is made to the source code 202 via the textual representation206, the graphical representation 204 is updated to remain synchronized.There is no repository, no batch code generation, and no risk of losingcode.

[0061] The data structure 300 of the language-neutral representation isdepicted in FIG. 3. The data structure 300 comprises a Source CodeInterface (SCI) model 302, an SCI package 304, an SCI class 306, and anSCI member 308. The SCI model 302 is the source code organized intopackages. The SCI model 302 corresponds to a directory for a softwareproject being developed by the user, and the SCI package 304 correspondsto a subdirectory. The software project comprises the source code in atleast one file that is compiled to form a sequence of instructions to berun by a data processing system. The data processing system is discussedin detail below. As is well known in object-oriented programming, theclass 306 is a category of objects which describes a group of objectswith similar properties (attributes), common behavior (operations ormethods), common relationships to other objects, and common semantics.The members 308 comprise attributes and/or operations.

[0062] For example, the data structure 500 for the source code 400depicted in FIG. 4 is depicted in FIG. 5. UserInterface 402 is definedas a package 404. Accordingly, UserInterface 402 is contained in SCIpackage 502. Similarly, Bank 406, which is defined as a class 408, iscontained in SCI class 504, and Name 410 and Assets 412, which aredefined as attributes (strings 414), are contained in SCI members 506.Since these elements are in the same project, all are linked. The datastructure 500 also identifies the language in which the source code iswritten 508, e.g., the Java™ language.

[0063]FIG. 6 depicts a data processing system 600 suitable forpracticing methods and systems consistent with the present invention.Data processing system 600 comprises a memory 602, a secondary storagedevice 604, an I/O device 606, and a processor 608. Memory 602 includesthe improved software development tool 610. The software developmenttool 610 is used to develop a software project 612, and create the TMM200 in the memory 602. The project 612 is stored in the secondarystorage device 604 of the data processing system 600. One skilled in theart will recognize that data processing system 600 may containadditional or different components.

[0064] Although aspects of the present invention are described as beingstored in memory, one skilled in the art will appreciate that theseaspects can also be stored on or read from other types ofcomputer-readable media, such as secondary storage devices, like harddisks, floppy disks or CD-ROM; a carrier wave from a network, such asInternet; or other forms of RAM or ROM either currently known or laterdeveloped.

[0065]FIG. 7 illustrates an architectural overview of the improvedsoftware development tool 610. The tool 610 comprises a core 700, anopen application program interface (API) 702, and modules 704. The core700 includes a parser 706 and an ICE 208. The parser 706 converts thesource code into the language-neutral representation in the TMM, and theICE 208 converts the text from the displays into source code. There arethree main packages composing the API 702: Integrated DevelopmentEnvironment (IDE) 708; Read-Write Interface (RWI) 710; and Source CodeInterface (SCI) 712. Each package includes corresponding subpackages. Asis well known in the art, a package is a collection of attributes,notifications, operations, or behaviors that are treated as a singlemodule or program unit.

[0066] IDE 708 is the API 702 needed to generate custom outputs based oninformation contained in a model. It is a read-only interface, i.e., theuser can extract information from the model, but not change the model.IDE 708 provides the functionality related to the model's representationin IDE 708 and interaction with the user. Each package composing the IDEgroup has a description highlighting the areas of applicability of thisconcrete package.

[0067] RWI 710 enables the user to go deeper into the architecture.Using RWI 710, information can be extracted from and written to themodels. RWI not only represents packages, classes and members, but itmay also represent different diagrams (class diagrams, use casediagrams, sequence diagrams and others), links, notes, use cases,actors, states, etc.

[0068] SCI 712 is at the source code level, and allows the user to workwith the source code almost independently of the language being used.There are a variety of modules 704 in the software development tool 610of the present invention. Some of the modules 704 access information togenerate graphical and code documentation in custom formats, export todifferent file formats, or develop patterns. The software developmenttool also includes a quality assurance (QA) module which monitors themodifications to the source code and calculates the complexity metrics,i.e., the measurement of the program's performance or efficiency, tosupport quality assurance. The types of metrics calculated by thesoftware development tool include basic metrics, cohesion metrics,complexity metrics, coupling metrics, Halstead metrics, inheritancemetrics, maximum metrics, polymorphism metrics, and ratio metrics.Examples of these metrics with their respective definitions areidentified in Tables 1-9 below. TABLE 1 Basic Metrics Basic MetricsDescription Lines Of Code Counts the number of code lines. Number OfAttributes Counts the number of attributes. If a class has a high numberof attributes, it may be appropriate to divide it into subclasses.Number Of Classes Counts the number of classes. Number Of Import Countsthe number of imported packages/classes. Statements This measure canhighlight excessive importing, and also can be used as a measure ofcoupling. Number Of Members Counts the number of members, i.e.,attributes and operations. If a class has a high number of members, itmay be appropriate to divide it into subclasses. Number Of OperationsCounts the number of operations. If a class has a high number ofoperations, it may be appropriate to divide it into subclasses.

[0069] TABLE 2 Cohesion Metrics Cohesion Metrics Description Lack OfCohesion Of Takes each pair of methods in the class and Methods 1determines the set of fields they each access. A low value indicateshigh coupling between methods, which indicates potentially lowreusability and increased testing because many methods can affect thesame attributes. Lack Of Cohesion Of Counts the percentage of methodsthat do not Methods 2 access a specific attribute averaged over allattributes in the class. A high value of cohesion (a low lack ofcohesion) implies that the class is well designed. Lack Of Cohesion OfMeasures the dissimilarity of methods in a class Methods 3 byattributes. A low value indicates good class subdivision, implyingsimplicity and high reusability. A high lack of cohesion increasescomplexity, thereby increasing the likelihood of errors during thedevelopment process.

[0070] TABLE 3 Complexity Metrics Complexity Metrics DescriptionAttribute Complexity Defined as the sum of each attribute's value in theclass. Cyclomatic Represents the cognitive complexity of the class.Complexity It counts the number of possible paths through an algorithmby counting the number of distinct regions on a flowgraph, i.e., thenumber of ‘if,’ ‘for’ and ‘while’ statements in the operation's body.Number Of Remote Processes all of the methods and constructors, Methodsand counts the number of different remote methods called. A remotemethod is defined as a method which is not declared in either the classitself or its ancestors. Response For Class Calculated as ‘Number ofLocal Methods’ + ‘Number of Remote Methods.’ A class which provides alarger response set is considered to be more complex and requires moretesting than one with a smaller overall design complexity. WeightedMethods Per The sum of the complexity of all methods for Class 1 aclass, where each method is weighted by its cyclomatic complexity. Thenumber of methods and the complexity of the methods involved is apredictor of how much time and effort is required to develop andmaintain the class. Weighted Methods Per Measures the complexity of aclass, assuming that Class 2 a class with more methods than another ismore complex, and that a method with more parameters than another isalso likely to be more complex.

[0071] TABLE 4 Coupling Metrics Coupling Metrics Description CouplingBetween Represents the number of other classes to which a Objects classis coupled. Counts the number of reference types that are used inattribute declarations, formal parameters, return types, throwsdeclarations and local variables, and types from which attribute andmethod selections are made. Excessive coupling between objects isdetrimental to modular design and prevents reuse. The more independent aclass is, the easier it is to reuse it in another application. In orderto improve modularity and promote encapsulation, inter-object classcouples should be kept to a minimum. The larger the number of couples,the higher the sensitivity to changes in other parts of the design, andtherefore maintenance is more difficult. A measure of coupling is usefulto determine how complex the testing of various parts of a design islikely to be. The higher the inter-object class coupling, the morerigorous the testing needs to be. Data Abstraction Counts the number ofreference types used in Coupling the attribute declarations. FanOutCounts the number of reference types that are used in attributedeclarations, formal parameters, return types, throws declarations andlocal variables.

[0072] TABLE 5 Halstead Metrics Halstead Metrics Description HalsteadDifficulty This measure is one of the Halstead Software Science metrics.It is calculated as (‘Number of Unique Operators’ / ‘Number of UniqueOperands’) * (‘Number of Operands’ / ‘Number of Unique Operands’).Halstead Effort This measure is one of the Halstead Software Sciencemetrics. It is calculated as ‘Halstead Difficulty’ * ‘Halstead ProgramVolume.’ Halstead Program This measure is one of the Halstead SoftwareLength Science metrics. It is calculated as ‘Number of Operators’ +‘Number of Operands.’ Halstead Program This measure is one of theHalstead Software Vocabulary Science metrics. It is calculated as‘Number of Unique Operators’ + ‘Number of Unique Operands.’ HalsteadProgram This measure is one of the Halstead Software Volume Sciencemetrics. It is calculated as ‘Halstead Program Length’ * Log2(‘HalsteadProgram Vocabulary’). Number Of Operands This measure is used as aninput to the Halstead Software Science metrics. It counts the number ofoperands used in a class. Number Of Operators This measure is used as aninput to the Halstead Software Science metrics. It counts the number ofoperators used in a class. Number Of Unique This measure is used as aninput to the Halstead Operands Software Science metrics. It counts thenumber of unique operands used in a class. Number Of Unique This measureis used as an input to the Halstead Operators Software Science metrics.It counts the number of unique operators used in a class.

[0073] TABLE 6 Inheritance Metrics Inheritance Metrics Description DepthOf Inheritance Counts how far down the inheritance hierarchy a Hierarchyclass or interface is declared. High values imply that a class is quitespecialized. Number Of Child Counts the number of classes which inheritfrom Classes a particular class, i.e., the number of classes in theinheritance tree down from a class. Non-zero value indicates that theparticular class is being re-used. The abstraction of the class may bepoor if there are too many child classes. It should also be stated thata high value of this measure points to the definite amount of testingrequired for each child class.

[0074] TABLE 7 Maximum Metrics Maximum Metrics Description MaximumNumber Of Counts the maximum depth of ‘if,’ ‘for’ and Levels ‘while’branches in the bodies of methods. Logical units with a large number ofnested levels may need implementation simplification and processimprovement because groups that contain more than seven pieces ofinformation are increasingly harder for people to understand in problemsolving. Maximum Number Of Displays the maximum number of parametersParameters among all class operations. Methods with many parameters tendto be more specialized and, thus, are less likely to be reusable.Maximum Size Of Counts the maximum size of the operations for aOperation class. Method size is determined in terms of cyclomaticcomplexity, i.e., the number of ‘if,’ ‘for’ and ‘while’ statements inthe operation's body.

[0075] TABLE 8 Polymorphism Metrics Polymorphism Metrics DescriptionNumber Of Added Counts the number of operations added by a class. AMethods large value of this measure indicates that the functionality ofthe given class becomes increasingly distinct from that of the parentclasses. In this case, it should be considered whether this classgenuinely should be inheriting from the parent, or if it could be brokendown into several smaller classes. Number Of Counts the number ofinherited operations which a Overridden Methods class overrides. Classeswithout parents are not processed. High values tend to indicate designproblems, i.e., subclasses should generally add to and extend thefunctionality of the parent classes rather than overriding them.

[0076] TABLE 9 Ratio Metrics Ratio Metrics Description Comment RatioCounts the ratio of comments to total lines of code including comments.Percentage Of Package Counts the percentage of package members in aMembers class. Percentage Of Private Counts the percentage of privatemembers in a Members class. Percentage Of Counts the percentage ofprotected members in a Protected Members class. Percentage Of PublicCounts the proportion of vulnerable members in a Members class. A largeproportion of such members means that the class has high potential to beaffected by external classes and means that increased efforts will beneeded to test such a class thoroughly. True Comment Ratio Counts theratio of comments to total lines of code excluding comments.

[0077] The QA module also provides audits, i.e., the module checks forconformance to predefined or user-defined styles. The types of auditsprovided by the module include coding style, critical errors,declaration style, documentation, naming style, performance, possibleerrors and superfluous content. Examples of these audits with theirrespective definitions are identified in Tables 10-17 below. TABLE 10Coding Style Audits Coding Style Audits Description Access Of StaticStatic members should be referenced through Members Through class namesrather than through objects. Objects Assignment To Formal Formalparameters should not be assigned. Parameters Complex Assignment Checksfor the occurrence of multiple assignments and assignments to variableswithin the same expression. Complex assignments should be avoided sincethey decrease program readability. Don't Use the The negation operatorslows down the readability Negation Operator of the program. Thus, it isrecommended that it Frequently not be used frequently. Operator ‘?:’ MayNot The operator ‘?:’ makes the code harder to read Be Used than thealternative form with an if-statement. Provide Incremental In Checks ifthe third argument of the ‘for’- For-Statement or use statement ismissing. while-statement Replacement For Demand import-declarations mustbe replaced by Demand Imports a list of single import-declarations thatare actually imported into the compilation unit. In other words,import-statements may not end with an asterisk. Use Abbreviated Use theabbreviated assignment operator in order Assignment Operator to writeprograms more rapidly. Also some compilers run faster with theabbreviated assignment operator. Use ‘this’ Explicitly Tries to make thedeveloper use ‘this’ explicitly To Access Class when trying to accessclass members. Using the Members same class member names with parameternames often makes what the developer is referring to unclear.

[0078] TABLE 11 Critical Errors Audits Critical Audits ErrorsDescription Avoid Hiding Detects when attributes declared in childclasses hide inherited Inherited Attributes attributes. Avoid HidingDetects when inherited static operations are hidden by child InheritedStatic classes. Methods Command Query Prevents methods that return avalue from a modifying state. The Separation methods used to query thestate of an object must be different from the methods used to performcommands (change the state of the object). Hiding Of Names Declarationsof names should not hide other declarations of the same name.Inaccessible Overload resolution only considers constructors and methodsthat Constructor Or are visible at the point of the call. If, however,all the Method Matches constructors and methods were considered, theremay be more matches. This rule is violated in this case. Imagine thatClassB is in a different package than ClassA. Then the allocation ofClassB violates this rule since the second constructor is not visible atthe point of the allocation, but it still matches the allocation (basedon signature). Also the call to open in ClassB violates this rule sincethe second and the third declarations of open are not visible at thepoint of the call, but it still matches the call (based on signature).Multiple Visible Multiple declarations with the same name must not beDeclarations With simultaneously visible except for overloaded methods.Same Name Overriding a Non- Checks for abstract methods overridingnon-abstract methods in a Abstract Method With subclass. an AbstractMethod Overriding a Private A subclass should not contain a method withthe same name and Method signature as in a superclass if these methodsare declared to be private. Overloading Within a A superclass method maynot be overloaded within a subclass Subclass unless all overloading inthe superclass are also overridden in the subclass. It is very unusualfor a subclass to be overloading methods in its superclass without alsooverriding the methods it is overloading. More frequently this happensdue to inconsistent changes between the superclass and subclass - i.e.,the intention of the user is to override the method in the superclass,but due to the error, the subclass method ends up overloading thesuperclass method. Use of Static Attribute Non-final static attributesshould not be used in initializations of for Initialization attributes.

[0079] TABLE 12 Declaration Style Audits Declaration Style AuditsDescription Badly Located Array Array declarators must be placed next tothe type descriptor of Declarators their component type. ConstantPrivate Private attributes that never get their values changed must beAttributes Must Be declared final. By explicitly declaring them in sucha way, a Final reader of the source code get some information of how theattribute is supposed to be used. Constant Variables Local variablesthat never get their values changed must be Must Be Final declaredfinal. By explicitly declaring them in such a way, a reader of thesource code obtains information about how the variable is supposed to beused. Declare Variables In Several variables (attributes and localvariables) should not be One Statement Each declared in the samestatement. Instantiated Classes This rule recommends making allinstantiated classes final. It Should Be Final checks classes which arepresent in the object model. Classes from search/classpath are ignored.List All Public And Enforces a standard to improve readability.Methods/data in your Package Members class should be ordered properly.First Order Of Appearance Checks for correct ordering of modifiers. Forclasses, this Of Modifiers includes visibility (public, protected orprivate), abstract, static, final. For attributes, this includesvisibility (public, protected or private), static, final, transient,volatile. For operations, this includes visibility (public, protected orprivate), abstract, static, final, synchronized, native. Put the MainFunction Tries to make the program comply with various coding standardsLast regarding the form of the class definitions.

[0080] TABLE 13 Documentation Audits Documentation Audits DescriptionBad Tag In JavaDoc This rule verifies code against accidental use ofComments improper JavaDoc tags. Distinguish Between Checks whether theJavaDoc comments in your JavaDoc And Ordinary program ends with ‘**/’and ordinary C-style Comments ones with ‘*/.’

[0081] TABLE 14 Naming Style Audits Naming Style Audits DescriptionClass Name Must Checks whether top level classes or interfaces have thesame Match Its File Name name as the file in which they reside. GroupOperations Enforces standard to improve readability. With Same NameTogether Naming Conventions Takes a regular expression and item name andreports all occurrences where the pattern does not match thedeclaration. Names Of Exception Names of classes which inherit fromException should end with Classes Exception. Use ConventionalOne-character local variable or parameter names should be Variable Namesavoided, except for temporary and looping variables, or where a variableholds an undistinguished value of a type.

[0082] TABLE 15 Performance Audits Performance Audits Description AvoidDeclaring This rule recommends declaring local variables outside theloops Variables Inside Loops since declaring variables inside the loopis less efficient. Append To String Performance enhancements can beobtained by replacing String Within a Loop operations with StringBufferoperations if a String object is appended within a loop. Complex LoopAvoid using complex expressions as repeat conditions within Expressionsloops.

[0083] TABLE 16 Possible Error Audits Possible Error Audits DescriptionAvoid Public And Declare the attributes either private or protected, andprovide Package Attributes operations to access or change them. AvoidStatements Avoid statements with empty body. With Empty Body AssignmentTo For- ‘For’-loop variables should not be assigned. Loop VariablesDon't Compare Avoid testing for equality of floating point numbers sinceFloating Point Types floating-point numbers that should be equal are notalways equal due to rounding problems. Enclosing Body The statement of aloop must always be a block. The ‘then’ and Within a Block ‘else’ partsof ‘if’-statements must always be blocks. This makes it easier to addstatements without accidentally introducing bugs in case the developerforgets to add braces. Explicitly Initialize All Explicitly initializeall variables. The only reason not to initialize Variables a variable iswhere it's declared is if the initial value depends on some computationoccurring first. Method finalize() Calling of super. finalize() fromfinalize() is good practice of Doesn't Call programming, even if thebase class doesn't define the finalize() super. finalize() method. Thismakes class implementations less dependent on each other. Mixing LogicalAn expression containing multiple logical operators should be OperatorsWithout parenthesized properly. Parentheses No Assignments In Use ofassignment within conditions makes the source code hard Conditional tounderstand. Expressions Use ‘equals’ Instead The ‘= =‘ operator used onstrings checks if two string objects are Of ‘= =‘ two identical objects.In most situations, however, one likes to simply check if two stringshave the same value. In these cases, the ‘equals’ method should be used.Use ‘L’ Instead Of ‘l’ It is better to use uppercase ‘L’ to distinguishthe letter ‘l’ from at the end of integer the number ‘1.’ constant UseOf the The ‘synchronized’ modifier on methods can sometimes cause‘synchronized’ confusion during maintenance as well as during debugging.This Modifier rule therefore recommends against using this modifier, andinstead recommends using ‘synchronized’ statements as replacements.

[0084] TABLE 17 Superfluous Content Audits Superfluous Content AuditsDescription Duplicate Import There should be at most one importdeclaration that imports a Declarations particular class/package. Don'tImport the No classes or interfaces need to be imported from the packageto Package the Source which the source code file belongs. Everything inthat package is File Belongs To available without explicit importstatements. Explicit Import Of the Explicit import of classes from thepackage ‘java.lang’ should not java.lang Classes be performed. EqualityOperations Avoid performing equality operations on Boolean operands. OnBoolean ‘True’ and ‘false’ literals should not be used in conditionalArguments clauses. Imported Items Must It is not legal to import a classor an interface and never use it. Be Used This rule checks classes andinterfaces that are explicitly imported with their names-that is notwith import of a complete package, using an asterisk. If unused classand interface imports are omitted, the amount of meaningless source codeis reduced- thus the amount of code to be understood by a reader isminimized. Unnecessary Casts Checks for the use of type casts that arenot necessary. Unnecessary Verifies that the runtime type of theleft-hand side expression is ‘instance of’ the same as the one specifiedon the right-hand side. Evaluations Unused Local Local variables andformal parameter declarations must be used. Variables And FormalParameters Use Of Obsolete The modifier ‘abstract’ is consideredobsolete and should not be Interface Modifier used. Use Of UnnecessaryAll interface operations are implicitly public and abstract. AllInterface Member interface attributes are implicitly public, final andstatic. Modifiers Unused Private Class An unused class member mightindicate a logical flaw in the Member program. The class declaration hasto be reconsidered in order to determine the need of the unusedmember(s).

[0085] If the QA module determines that the source code does notconform, an error message is provided to the developer. For example, asdepicted in FIG. 8A, the software development tool checks for a varietyof coding styles 800. If the software development tool were to check for“Access Of Static Members Through Objects” 802, it would verify whetherstatic members are referenced through class names rather than throughobjects 804. Further, as depicted in FIG. 8B, if the softwaredevelopment tool were to check for “Complex Assignment” 806, thesoftware development tool would check for the occurrence of multipleassignments and assignments to variables within the same expression toavoid complex assignments since these decrease program readability 808.An example of source code having a complex assignment 810 and sourcecode having a non-complex assignment 812 are depicted in FIGS. 8B and8C, respectively. The QA module of the software development tool scansthe source code for other syntax errors well known in the art, asdescribed above, and provides an error message if any such errors aredetected.

[0086] The improved software development tool of the present inventionis used to develop source code in a project. The project comprises aplurality of files and the source code of a chosen one of the pluralityof files is written in a given language. The software development tooldetermines the language of the source code of the chosen file, convertsthe source code from the language into a language-neutralrepresentation, uses the language-neutral representation to textuallydisplay the source code of the chosen file in the language, and uses thelanguage-neutral representation to display a graphical representation ofat least a portion of the project. The source code and the graphicalrepresentation are displayed simultaneously.

[0087] The improved software development tool of the present inventionis also used to develop source code. The software development toolreceives an indication of a selected language for the source code,creates a file to store the source code in the selected language,converts the source code from the selected language into alanguage-neutral representation, uses the language-neutralrepresentation to display the source code of the file, and uses thelanguage-neutral representation to display a graphical representation ofthe file. Again, the source code and the graphical representation aredisplayed simultaneously.

[0088] Moreover, if the source code in the file is modified, themodified source code and a graphical representation of at least aportion of the modified source code are displayed simultaneously. The QAmodule of the software development tool provides an error message if themodification does not conform to predefined or user-defined styles, asdescribed above. The modification to the source code may be receivedfrom the display of the source code, the display of the graphicalrepresentation of the project, or via some other independent software tomodify the code. The graphical representation of the project may be inUnified Modeling Language; however, one skilled in the art willrecognize that other graphical representations of the source code may bedisplayed. Further, although the present invention is described andshown using the various views of the UML, one of ordinary skill in theart will recognize that other views may be displayed.

[0089]FIG. 9 depicts a flow diagram of the steps performed by thesoftware development tool to develop a project in accordance with thepresent invention. As previously stated, the project comprises aplurality of files. The developer either uses the software developmenttool to open a file which contains existing source code, or to create afile in which the source code will be developed. If the softwaredevelopment tool is used to open the file, determined in step 900, thesoftware development tool initially determines the programming languagein which the code is written (step 902). The language is identified bythe extension of the file, e.g., “java” identifies source code writtenin the Java™ language, while “.cpp” identifies source code written inC++. The software development tool then obtains a template for thecurrent programming language, i.e., a collection of generalizeddefinitions for the particular language that can be used to build thedata structure (step 904). For example, the definition of a new Java™class contains a default name, e.g., “Class1,” and the default code,“public class Class1 { }.” Such templates are well known in the art. Forexample, the “Microsoft Foundation Class Library” and the “MicrosoftWord Template For Business Use Case Modeling” are examples of standardtemplate libraries from which programmers can choose individual templateclasses. The software development tool uses the template to parse thesource code (step 906), and create the data structure (step 908). Aftercreating the data structure or if there is no existing code, thesoftware development tool awaits an event, i.e., a modification oraddition to the source code by the developer (step 910). If an event isreceived and the event is to close the file (step 912), the file issaved (step 914) and closed (step 916). Otherwise, the softwaredevelopment tool performs the event (step 918), i.e., the tool makes themodification. The software development tool then updates the TMM ormodel (step 920), as discussed in detail below, and updates both thegraphical and the textual views (step 922).

[0090]FIGS. 10A and 10B depict a flow diagram illustrating the updatemodel step of FIG. 9. The software development tool selects a file fromthe project (step 1000), and determines whether the file is new (step1002), whether the file has been updated (step 1004), or whether thefile has been deleted (step 1006). If the file is new, the softwaredevelopment tool adds the additional symbols from the file to the TMM(step 1008). To add the symbol to the TMM, the software development tooluses the template to parse the symbol to the TMM. If the file has beenupdated, the software development tool updates the symbols in the TMM(step 1010). Similar to the addition of a symbol to the TMM, thesoftware development tool uses the template to parse the symbol to theTMM. If the file has been deleted, the software development tool deletesthe symbols in the TMM (step 1012). The software development toolcontinues this analysis for all files in the project. After all filesare analyzed (step 1014), any obsolete symbols in the TMM (step 1016)are deleted (step 1018).

[0091]FIG. 11 depicts a flow diagram illustrating the performance of anevent, specifically the creation of a class, in accordance with thepresent invention. After identifying the programming language (step1100), the software development tool obtains a template for the language(step 1102), creates a source code file in the project directory (step1104), and pastes the template onto the TMM (step 1106). The projectdirectory corresponds to the SCI model 302 of FIG. 3. Additional eventswhich a developer may perform using the software development toolinclude the creation, modification or deletion of packages, projects,attributes, interfaces, links, operations, and the closing of a file.

[0092] The software development tool is collectively broken into threeviews of the application: the static view, the dynamic view, and thefunctional view. The static view is modeled using the use-case and classdiagrams. A use case diagram 1200, depicted in FIG. 12, shows therelationship among actors 1202 and use cases 1204 within the system1206. A class diagram 1300, depicted in FIG. 13 with its associatedsource code 1302, on the other hand, includes classes 1304, interfaces,packages and their relationships connected as a graph to each other andto their contents.

[0093] The dynamic view is modeled using the sequence, collaboration andstatechart diagrams. As depicted in FIG. 14, a sequence diagram 1400represents an interaction, which is a set of messages 1402 exchangedamong objects 1404 within a collaboration to effect a desired operationor result. In a sequence diagram 1400, the vertical dimension representstime and the horizontal dimension represents different objects. Acollaboration diagram 1500, depicted in FIG. 15, is also an interactionwith messages 1502 exchanged among objects 1504, but it is also acollaboration, which is a set of objects 1504 related in a particularcontext. Contrary to sequence diagrams 1400 (FIG. 14), which emphasizethe time ordering of messages along the vertical axis, collaborationdiagrams 1500 (FIG. 15) emphasize the structural organization ofobjects.

[0094] A statechart diagram 1600 is depicted in FIG. 16. The statechartdiagram 1600 includes the sequences of states 1602 that an object orinteraction goes through during its life in response to stimuli,together with its responses and actions. It uses a graphic notation thatshows states of an object, the events that cause a transition from onestate to another, and the actions that result from the transition.

[0095] The functional view can be represented by activity diagrams 1700and more traditional descriptive narratives such as pseudocode andminispecifications. An activity diagram 1700 is depicted in FIG. 17, andis a special case of a state diagram where most, if not all, of thestates are action states 1702 and where most, if not all, of thetransitions are triggered by completion of the actions in the sourcestates. Activity diagrams 1700 are used in situations where all or mostof the events represent the completion of internally generated actions.

[0096] There is also a fourth view mingled with the static view calledthe architectural view. This view is modeled using package, componentand deployment diagrams. Package diagrams show packages of classes andthe dependencies among them. Component diagrams 1800, depicted in FIG.18, are graphical representations of a system or its component parts.Component diagrams 1800 show the dependencies among software components,including source code components, binary code components and executablecomponents. As depicted in FIG. 19, Deployment diagrams 1900 are used toshow the distribution strategy for a distributed object system.Deployment diagrams 1900 show the configuration of run-time processingelements and the software components, processes and objects that live onthem.

[0097] Although discussed in terms of class diagrams, one skilled in theart will recognize that the software development tool of the presentinvention may support these and other graphical views.

[0098] Relating a Data Structure and Object-oriented Element forDistributed Computing

[0099] In addition to the functionality described above, the softwaredevelopment tool significantly reduces programming development time fora developer by allowing the developer to automatically generate anEnterprise JavaBean™ (EJB) or a persistent class from a database tableand automatically generate a database table from an EJB or a persistentclass. Furthermore, when the EJB or persistent class is modified, thesoftware development tool is able to automatically update thecorresponding database table so as to keep the EJB or persistent classand the corresponding database table in synchronization. Similarly, whenthe database table corresponding to the EJB or persistent class isupdated, the software development tool is able to automatically updatethe EJB or persistent class.

[0100] As is well known to one skilled in the art, a persistent classhas attributes that are mapped to a database table and whose state ismaintained between calls to operations within code corresponding to thepersistent class. Because the software development tool is able torelate a database table to a persistent class, the software developmenttool saves the programmer time in developing and maintaining code thatincludes these attributes by generating and updating code for theseattributes from a corresponding database table. Also, as is well knownto one skilled in the art, an EJB serves as a front-end to a DBMS, wherethe EJB embodies business logic that is performed on the data in thedatabase associated with the DBMS. The data in the database representsthe specific details and information flow of the organization or of aparticular industry. An EJB allows application programs to beindependent of the business logic, so that when the business logicchanges, the application need not change. Thus, a developer is able tofocus on developing code for a client application that utilizes thebusiness data stored in the database, rather than worrying about endlessamounts of programming and coding needed to connect all the workingparts for accessing the database.

[0101] An example of an EJB representing a real-world object (e.g., acustomer of an enterprise) is shown below. Each record in the “CustomerTable” found in the database is accessible by the example “Customer EJB”via the attribute fields of the Customer Table (i.e., “ID”, “Name”,“Social Security Number”, and “Age” are shown) that are mapped toattributes in the code corresponding to the EJB. Assuming the “ClientApplication” needs to determine whether the person named “Jones”qualifies for a senior citizen discount on a purchase order, the“Customer EJB” may be invoked to answer the question by performing thenecessary business logic operation which may involve ascertaining the“age” for “Jones” from the “Customer Table” and determining if the “age”for “Jones” is over 50 before reporting back the answer to the “ClientApplication.”

[0102] As shown in the above example, an EJB (i.e., an EJB EntityBean)may represent a real-world object, such as a customer, a bank account,or a cruise ship, which has persistent records (i.e., data structures)in a database. An EJB (i.e., an EJB SessionBean) may also represent aset of processes or tasks, which are performed on behalf of a clientapplication. Thus, an EJB is a distributed computing component, where adistributed computing component is a software component that runs on acomputer and is designed to perform business logic for clientapplication(s) requiring a solution to a business problem (e.g., processa customer order or determine a senior citizen discount for a customer).The solution to the business problem typically requires access tocorresponding business data contained in an enterprise database. Asdiscribed below, the software development tool supports relating adistributed computing component, such as an EJB, to a database table ordata structure.

[0103] By allowing a developer to generate or update an EJB from anexisting data structure in a database, the software development toolsaves the developer development time as the programmer no longer has touse one tool to query the database for the composition of the datastructure and another tool to create the EJB with attributes and methods(i.e., business logic operations) that map to the database in order toallow access to the data structure after the EJB is deployed. Similarly,the software development tool saves a developer time that would be spentcreating a data structure that maps to code corresponding to apreviously developed EJB by allowing the developer to form or update adata structure from the EJB. Thus, the software development tool relatesa data structure to an object-oriented element, such as a persistentclass or an EJB, so that code corresponding to the object-orientedelement correlates to the data structure. One skilled in the art willappreciate that other object-oriented elements may be related to a datastructure in a database by the software development tool using methodsand systems consistent with the present invention. However, for clarityin the detailed description below, the methods and systems consistentwith the present invention are discussed in reference to a persistentclass and an EJB. An EJB is more clearly described in the followingreferences that are incorporated herein by reference: (1) RichardMonson-Haefel, Enterprise JavaBeans™ 2^(nd) Edition, O'Reilly &Associates (2000); and (2) Sun Microsystems' Enterprise JavaBeans™Specification v1.0, v1.1, and v2.0, available athttp://java.sun.com/products/ejb/docs.html.

[0104] Turning to FIG. 20, a data processing system 2000 is depictedthat is suitable for practicing methods and systems consistent with thepresent invention, including relating an object-oriented element to adata structure in a database that contains business data. Dataprocessing system 2000 includes a computer 2002 and a database serversystem 2004 that are connected via network 2006. The network 2006 may beany known physical or wireless link capable of supporting a datatransmission between two computer systems, such as a Local Area Network(LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), Internet or leased phone lines.

[0105] Computer 2002 includes the software development tool 610. Thedatabase server system 2004 includes a memory 2008, a secondary storagedevice 2010, an I/O device 2012, and a processor 2014. The secondarystorage device 2010 includes a database 2016 that contains datastructures which hold business data used in distributed computing.Memory 2008 includes a database management system 2018 that enables arequester, such as a developer using the software development tool 610,to store, modify, and extract information from the database 2016. Thedatabase management system 2018 may be any known database managementsystem (DBMS) that is able to control the access to the database 2016.

[0106] In another implementation, the secondary storage device 2003 ofthe computer 2002 includes the database 2016 and the memory 2001 of thecomputer 2002 includes the database management system 2018. In thisimplementation, the software development tool 610 accesses the database2016 without communicating via network 2006 to database server system2004.

[0107] FIGS. 21A-C depict a flow diagram illustrating an exemplaryprocess performed by the software development tool 610 for generatingsource code for an object-oriented element from a data structure in adatabase. To form an object-oriented element from a data structure, thesoftware development tool 610 receives a request to access a database(step 2102). As depicted in FIG. 22, the software development tool mayreceive the request to access the database via a menu selection 2202 ona user interface 2200. However, a programmer may indicate the request tothe software development tool using any known programming inputtechnique, such as a keyboard input or icon selection.

[0108] The software development tool 610 also receives accessinformation for the database (step 2104). FIG. 23 depicts an exemplaryuser interface displayed by the software development tool for receivingaccess information 2302 for the database. In this implementation, theaccess information 2302 includes an identification 2304 of the databasemanagement system 2018, a driver 2306 for the software development toolto use to communicate with the database 2016 via the database managementsystem 2018, a location 2308 on the computer 2002 where the driver 2306is stored, and a network address 2310 or URL for the database 2016 onthe database server system 2004. The identified database managementsystem 2304 maybe any known DBMS server type, such as Oracle 7.3x/8x,ODBC/Access 97, Cloudscape, ODBC/MS SQL Server, and IBM DB2 6.1. Thedriver 2306 may be any known driver or interface program that issuitable for communicating with the identified database managementsystem 2304. In the exemplary implementation shown in FIG. 24, thesoftware development tool 610 displays a default network address 2310that a developer can change by providing a new address prefix 2312corresponding to the identified database management system 2306, a newhost name 2414 that identifies a system platform where the databasemanagement system 2018 and the database 2016 reside (e.g., local hostcorresponds to the computer 2002), a port 2316 assigned to theidentified database management system 2304 for network communication,and a database identification 2318. As known to one skilled in the art,a commercially available DBMS may control a number of differentdatabases. Thus, in this implementation where the identified databasemanagement system 2304 is a DBMS, the database identification 2318 namesthe database to be accessed via the identified database managementsystem 2304.

[0109] Returning to FIG. 21A, after receiving access information for thedatabase, the software development tool 610 determines if authorizationis required to access the database 2016 (step 2106). The softwaredevelopment tool 610 determines if authorization is required based onthe identification of the database management system 2304 or by queryingthe database management system 2304. If authorization is required, thesoftware development tool receives an access privilege from a user (step2108). As shown in FIG. 23, the access privilege received by thesoftware development tool may include a user name 2322 and a password2324, and then determines whether the access privilege 2320 isauthorized (step 2110). The software development tool determines if thereceived access privilege is authorized by performing knownauthentication methods, such as querying the identified databasemanagement system to authenticate access or querying the computer 2004where the database management system resides to authenticate accessbased on a respective user access profile (not shown in figures).

[0110] If access is authorized or authorization is not required, thesoftware development tool determines whether the database contains anydata structure which the programmer may select (step 2112). To determineif the database contains a data structure, the software development toolmay query the database for an identification of each data structurewithin the database 2016. In another implementation, the softwaredevelopment tool may request that the database 2016 provide anidentification of at least one data structure within the database. Ineither implementation, the software development tool may abortprocessing if the software development tool does not receive anidentification of at least one data structure in the database.

[0111] If the database contains a data structure, the softwaredevelopment tool displays an identification of each data structure inthe database (step 2114 in FIG. 21B). For example, in FIG. 24, anexemplary user interface 2400 displayed by the software development toolshows the identification of each data structure 2402 displayed by thesoftware development tool in response to querying the database 2016.Next, the software development tool 610 receives an identification of aselected data structure 2404 (step 2116). As shown in FIG. 24, thesoftware development tool may receive an identification of a selecteddata structure 2404 via any known programming input technique, such as amouse click on one of the displayed data structures 2402. In oneimplementation, the software development tool allows the programmer toselect multiple data structures to be accessed by the softwaredevelopment tool in order to form multiple object-oriented elements asdiscussed below.

[0112] Next, the software development tool receives an indication of atype of object-oriented element to form from the selected data structure(step 2118). As illustrated in FIG. 25, the type of object-orientedelement 2502 may be any object-oriented element that has source codewith persistent attributes mapped to the data structure in the database,such as a persistent class 2504 or an Enterprise JavaBean™ 2506. Aspreviously discussed, a persistent attribute has a state that ismaintained between calls to operations within code corresponding to therespective object-oriented element.

[0113] The software development tool accesses a portion of the selecteddata structure from the database (step 2120). In one implementation, thesoftware development tool 610 accesses a portion of the selected datastructure using access information 2302 to query the database in orderto receive all the attribute fields in the data structure for formingthe object-oriented element. In another implementation, the softwaredevelopment tool may receive the entire data structure. The query isformed by the software development tool to be recognizable to thedatabase management system 2018 that functions as a DBMS in thisinstance. As known to one skilled in the art, a DBMS retrievesinformation from a respective database based on a query that correspondsto a known, recognizable command to the DBMS.

[0114] Based on the indication of the type of object-oriented element toform, the software development tool determines whether the type ofobject-oriented element is a class (step 2122). In one implementationshown in FIG. 26, if the type of object-oriented element is a class, thesoftware development tool generates source code for a class 2602 havinga name 2604 that corresponds to the selected data structure 2404 (step2124). As discussed below, if the software development tool is laterinstructed to update the class 2602, the identification of the datastructure to access may be obtained by the software development toolfrom the name of the class 2602. When forming the class 2602, thesoftware development tool generates new code for the class 2602 thatincludes an attribute 2606 that is related to an attribute field in theportion of the selected data structure 2404 (step 2126). Thus, thesoftware development tool saves a developer time and effort by providinga class that has attributes that mirror the data structure so that thedeveloper can add new methods or code specifically for referencing thedata structure.

[0115] The software development tool also places the identification ofthe selected data structure in a comment of the source code for theclass (step 2128). Therefore, in the event that the selected datastructure 2404 is modified or the class is modified, the softwaredevelopment tool is still able to relate the data structure to the classand update one to the other as explained below. In addition, thesoftware development tool associates the access information with thesource code of the class (step 2130). By associating the accessinformation with the source code of the class, the software developmenttool enables the data structure to be accessed again without prompting adeveloper for the access information. In one implementation, thesoftware development tool may associate the access information with thesource by storing the access information with the identification of theselected data structure in a configuration file. In this implementation,the configuration file may be stored anywhere in the project. In anotherimplementation, the software development tool may associate the accessinformation with the source code by storing the access information withthe identification of the data structure as a comment in the source codeof the class 2602. In either implementation, the software developmenttool is able to identify the access information based on theidentification of the selected data structure 2404. Having generated thesource code of the class to correspond to the selected data structure,the software development tool displays a graphical representation of thesource code of the class (step 2132). As shown in FIG. 26, the softwaredevelopment tool graphically represents source code corresponding to theclass 2602 in the diagram 2608.

[0116] If the type of object-oriented element is not a class, thesoftware development tool determines whether the type of object-orientedelement is an EJB (step 2134). If the type of object-oriented element isan EJB, the software development tool generates source code for the EJBthat has a name that corresponds to the selected data structure (step2136). In FIG. 27, the software development tool displays a portion ofthe source code for the EJB 2702 in the textual pane 2706. The sourcecode for the EJB in its entirety as generated by the softwaredevelopment tool is shown in FIG. 28. As illustrated in FIGS. 27 and 28,the software development tool generates source code 2702 that has a name2704 “DEPARTMENTBean” which corresponds to the selected data structure2404, “DEPARTMENT,” shown in FIG. 24.

[0117] The software development tool also generates new code for the EJBthat includes an attribute that is related to an attribute field in theportion of the selected data structure (step 2138). As shown in FIG. 27,the software development tool generates an attribute 2708 in code 2702corresponding to the displayed EJB 2712 that is related to an attributefield in the portion of the selected data structure 2404. In addition,the software development tool generates other new code for the EJB thatincludes a method that accesses the related attribute field in theportion of the selected data structure (step 2140). As illustrated inFIG. 27, the software development tool generates other new code for theEJB that includes a method 2710 (“getDepartment_ID( ) long”) thataccesses the related attribute field in the portion of the selected datastructure 2404. Thus, the software development tool again saves adeveloper time and effort by providing an EJB that has attributes thatmirror the attribute fields of the selected data structure and that hasmethods that access the attributes. The developer can then add othercode specifically for referencing the data structure and using businessrelated information contained therein to perform a specific function,such as remotely accessing a car parts inventory and generating anautomated order to re-supply a customer when certain parts are found tobe low.

[0118] The software development tool also adds the identificationassociated with the selected data structure as a comment in the sourcecode for the EJB (step 2142). The software development tool thenassociates the access information with the source code of the class(step 2144). In performing these steps, the software development toolenables the data structure to be accessed again without prompting adeveloper for the selected data structure or access information. Thesoftware development tool may associate the access information with thesource by storing the access information with the identification of theselected data structure in a configuration file. In anotherimplementation, the software development tool may associate the accessinformation with the source code by storing the access information withthe identification of the data structure as a comment 2804 in the sourcecode of the EJB. Having generated the source code of the EJB tocorrespond to the selected data structure, the software development tooldisplays a graphical representation of the source code of the EJB (step2146). As shown in FIG. 27, the software development tool graphicallyrepresents source code corresponding to the EJB 2702, 2802 in thediagram 2712.

[0119] Once source code is generated from a data structure, the softwaredevelopment tool is able to update the source code to match the currentstate of a related data structure without losing any code. In FIGS.29A-B, a flow diagram is shown that illustrates an exemplary processperformed by the software development tool for updating anobject-oriented element from a related data structure. The softwaredevelopment tool receives an indication of an object-oriented element(step 2902) and receives an indication to update the object-orientedelement (step 2904). Turning to FIG. 30, in one implementation, theindication of the object-oriented element is the last element selectedon the textual pane 3002. In another implementation, the object-orientedelement may be any object-oriented element in the project that isrelated to a data structure or that has been previously formed from adata structure.

[0120] To update the source code of the object-oriented, the softwaredevelopment tool retrieves the identification of the data structure thatis related to the object-oriented element (step 2906). In oneimplementation, to retrieve the identification of the data structure,the software development tool searches a source code file associatedwith the object-oriented element for the identification of the datastructure. In this implementation, the software development tool is ableto check comment fields within the source code of the object-orientedelement for a predefined delimiter that identifies the data structurethat is related to the object-oriented element. In anotherimplementation, the software development tool may associate the name ofthe source code or object-oriented element with the identification ofthe data structure.

[0121] Next,the software development tool also retrieves accessinformation for a database that stores the selected data structure (step2908). In one implementation, the access information is stored inassociation with the identification of the data structure in aconfiguration file for the project. In another implementation, theaccess information is stored in association with the identification ofthe data structure in the source code of the object-oriented element. Ineither implementation, the software development tool is able to locatethe access information based on the retrieved identification of the datastructure.

[0122] After retrieving the access information for the database, thesoftware development tool retrieves a portion of the data structure byaccessing the database using the retrieved access information (step2910). The portion retrieved by the software development tool includeseach attribute field in the data structure. By retrieving each attributefield in the data structure, the software development tool is able toupdate the object-oriented element by removing an attribute that hasbeen added to the data structure since the object-oriented element wasformed from the data structure. In addition, the software developmenttool is able to update the object-oriented element by adding anattribute that corresponds to an attribute field added to the datastructure since the object-oriented element was formed.

[0123] To update the object-oriented element to reflect a deletion tothe data structure, the software development tool 610 determines whethereach attribute in the object-oriented element has been checked (step2912). If each attribute in the object-oriented element has not beenchecked, the software development tool selects the next attribute,starting with the first attribute (step 2913). The software developmenttool then determines whether the next attribute in the object-orientedelement is associated with an attribute field in the data structure(step 2914). If the next attribute in the object-oriented element is notassociated with the attribute field from the data structure, thesoftware development tool removes the next attribute from the sourcecode of the object-oriented element (step 2916). In one implementation,the software development tool removes the next attribute and a methodthat accesses the next attribute.

[0124] As part of updating the object-oriented element to reflect anaddition to the data structure, the software development tool determineswhether each attribute in the data structure has been checked (step2918). If each attribute in the object-oriented element has not beenchecked, the software development tool selects the next attribute field,starting with the first attribute field (step 2919). The softwaredevelopment tool then determines whether the next attribute field in thedata structure is associated with an attribute in the source code of theobject-oriented element (step 2920). If the next attribute field in thedata structure is not associated with an attribute in the source code ofthe object-oriented element, the software development tool adds theattribute to the source code of the object-oriented element (step 2922).

[0125] The software development tool then displays a graphicalrepresentation of the object-oriented element to reflect the update tothe data structure (step 2924). For example, in FIG. 30 a user interface3000 is displayed by the software development tool in response to theupdating of source code 2802 associated with the EJB (graphicallydepicted as 2712 in FIG. 27) to the data structure “DEPARTMENT.” Thedata structure “DEPARTMENT” had previously been used to form the EJB2712 as illustrated in FIG. 27. In response to the indication to updatethe object-oriented element, the software development tool removes thefirst attribute 2714, “public String NAME” (depicted in FIG. 27), andadds the second attribute 3004, “public int NAME” (depicted in FIG. 30),to the source code of the EJB. Hence, changing the attribute field“NAME” in the data structure causes the development tool to update thesource code to reflect the change. The diagram 3006 (i.e., the graphicalrepresentation of the source code for the EJB) reflects the deletion ofthe first attibute 2714 and the addition of the second attribute 3404.Thus, when an attribute field of the data structure is eliminated oradded by a developer after the EJB is formed from the data structure,the software development tool is able to quickly update the EJB to thedata structure to resynchronize attributes of the data structure to theEJB. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the softwaredevelopment tool may perform the process in FIGS. 29A-B for otherobject-oriented elements, such as a persistent class.

[0126] FIGS. 31A-B depicts a flow diagram illustrating an exemplaryprocess performed by the software development tool for forming a datastructure used in distributed computing from source code of anobject-oriented element. To form the data structure, the softwaredevelopment tool receives a request to form a new data structure in adatabase (step 3102). The type of data structure to be formed maycorrespond to any known data structure used for distributed computing,such as a table in a database. As shown in FIG. 32, the softwaredevelopment tool may receive the request from a programmer via any knownprogramming input technique, such as a keyboard input or a menuselection 3202 on a user interface 3200. In the example illustrated inFIG. 32, when menu selection 3602 is received, the software developmenttool receives the indication that the type of data structure to form isa Data Description Language (DDL) file. The Data Description Language isa known language recognized by a known DBMS for describing a table in adatabase. The DDL file may be transmitted by the software developmenttool to the DBMS 2018 generate a table in the database 2016.

[0127] The software development tool also receives an indication of anobject-oriented element to use to form the data structure in thedatabase (step 3104). In one implementation shown in FIG. 33, theprogrammer may indicate to the software development tool that theobject-oriented element is an EJB 3302 or a persistent class 3304 thathas a name 3306 depicted graphically in a diagram on the graphical pane3308. In another implementation, the software development tool mayreceive the indication that the last selected object-oriented element(e.g., the EJB graphically depicted as 3310) on the graphical pane 3308is to be used to form the data structure in the database.

[0128] The software development tool also receives access informationfor the database (step 3106). In one implementation shown in FIG. 34,the software development tool receives access information 3402 for thedatabase, where access information includes an identification 3404 ofthe database management system 2018, a driver 3406 for the softwaredevelopment tool to use to communicate with the database 2016 via thedatabase management system 2018, and a network address 2308 (i.e., URL)for the database 2016 on the database server system 2004.

[0129] Returning to FIG. 31A, after receiving the access information forthe database, the software development tool determines if authorizationis required to access the database 2016 (step 3108). The softwaredevelopment tool determines if authorization is required based on theidentification of the database management system 3404 or by querying thedatabase management system 3404. If authorization is required, thesoftware development tool receives an access privilege 3410 (step 3110),and then determines whether the access privilege 3410 is authorized(step 3112).

[0130] Once the source code of the object-oriented element isidentified, the software development tool generates an attribute fieldin the data structure from an attribute in the object-oriented element(step 3114 in FIG. 31B). If the object-oriented element is an EJB, thesoftware development tool generates an attribute field from an attributethat is accessed by a method or operation in the source of theobject-oriented element. In one implementation, the software developmenttool receives an indication 3412 to generate the attribute field in thedata structure by accessing the database 2016 via the DBMS 2018 andrequesting the formation of the data structure with the attribute field.In another implementation shown in FIG. 35, the software developmenttool receives an indication 3412 to store the data structure in a file3502, such as a Data Definition Language (DDL) file, so that anadministrator with the authority to access and modify the database 2016is able to form the data structure in the database 2016 at a later time.

[0131] The software development tool stores an identification of thedata structure with the source code of the object-oriented element (step3116). By storing the identification of the data structure with thesource code of the object-oriented element, the software developmenttool is able to easily identify the data structure to update the datastructure from the source code of the associated object-orientedelement. The software development tool also stores the accessinformation with the identification of the data structure in associationwith the source code of the object-oriented element (step 3118). In oneimplementation, the identification of the data structure is stored withthe access information in a configuration file. In anotherimplementation, the identification of the data structure is stored withthe access information as a comment in the source code of theobject-oriented element.

[0132] When the data structure is formed from an object-orientedelement, the software development tool is able to update the datastructure to match the current state of a related object-orientedelement without corrupting the remainder of the data structure. In FIGS.36A-B, a flow diagram is shown that illustrates an exemplary processperformed by the software development tool for updating a related datastructure from source code of an object-oriented element. The softwaredevelopment tool first receives an indication of a data structure (step3602). The software development tool also receives an indication toupdate the data structure (step 3604). The software development toolthen retrieves an identification of an object-oriented element that isrelated to the data structure (step 3606). In one implementation, thesoftware development tool is able to search the source code of eachobject-oriented element in the project for the identification of thedata structure. The identification of the data structure may be storedas the name of the object-oriented element. In another implementation,the identification of the data structure may be stored as a comment inthe source code of the object-oriented element.

[0133] Next, the software development tool retrieves access informationfor a database that contains the data structure (step 3608). Thesoftware development tool may retrieve the access information from aconfiguration file where it is stored in association with theidentification of the data structure. In another embodiment, thesoftware development tool may retrieve the access information with theidentification of the data structure from a comment in the source codeof the object-oriented element.

[0134] The software development tool retrieves a portion of the datastructure by accessing the database using the retrieved accessinformation (step 3610). The portion retrieved by the softwaredevelopment tool includes each attribute field in the data structure. Byretrieving each attribute field in the data structure, the softwaredevelopment tool is able to update the data structure by removing anattribute field that has been removed from the source code of theobject-oriented element since the data structure was formed. Inaddition, the software development tool is able to update the datastructure by adding an attribute that corresponds to an attribute fieldadded to the data structure since the object-oriented element wasformed.

[0135] To update the data structure to reflect a deletion to theobject-oriented element, the software development tool determineswhether each attribute field in the data structure has been checked(step 3612 in FIG. 36B). If each attribute field in the data structureelement has not been checked, the software development tool selects thenext attribute field, starting with the first attribute field (step3613). The software development tool then determines whether the nextattribute field in the data structure is associated with an attribute inthe source code of the object-oriented element (step 3614). If the nextattribute field in the data structure is not associated with anattribute in the source code of the object-oriented element, thesoftware development tool removes the next attribute field from the datastructure (step 3616).

[0136] To update the data structure to reflect an addition to sourcecode of the object-oriented element, the software development tooldetermines whether each attribute in the object-oriented element hasbeen checked (step 3618). If each attribute in the object-orientedelement has not been checked, the software development tool selects thenext attribute, starting with the first attribute (step 3619). If eachattribute in the object-oriented element has not been checked, thesoftware development tool determines whether an attribute in theobject-oriented element is associated with an attribute field in thedata structure (step 3820). The software development tool then adds theattribute field to the data structure (step 3622).

[0137] While various embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artthat many more embodiments and implementations are possible that arewithin the scope of this invention. Accordingly, the invention is not tobe restricted except in light of the attached claims and theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method in a data processing system, comprisingthe steps of: receiving an identification of a data structure with anattribute field in a database; determining whether the data structure isassociated with source code; when it is determined that the datastructure is associated with source code, determining whether theattribute field of the data structure is associated with an attribute inthe source code; and when it is determined that the attribute field isnot associated with an attribute in the source code, generating a newattribute in the source code from the attribute field.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising the steps of: when it is determined that thedata structure is not associated with source code, retrieving a portionof the data structure; and generating the source code from the portionof the data structure.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising thesteps of: when it is determined that the data structure is associatedwith source code, determining whether a second attribute in the sourcecode is associated with a second attribute field in the data structure;and when it is determined that a second attribute in the source code isnot associated with a second attribute field in the data structure,removing the second attribute from the source code.
 4. The method ofclaim 3, wherein the step of removing the second attribute from thesource code comprises the step of removing a method associated with thesecond attribute from the source code.
 5. The method of claim 3, furthercomprising the step of displaying a graphical representation of thesource code.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step ofmodifying the graphical representation of the source code to reflect thegeneration of the new attribute.
 7. The method of claim 5, furthercomprising the step of modifying the graphical representation of thesource code to reflect the removal of the second attribute.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the step of determining whether the datastructure is associated with the source code comprises the step ofsearching a comment in the source code for the identification of thedata structure.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the step ofdetermining whether the data structure is associated with the sourcecode comprises the step of comparing a name for the source code with theidentification of the data structure.
 10. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the steps of: retrieving access information for the database;and retrieving a portion of the data structure from the database usingthe access information.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step ofretrieving the access information comprises the step of retrieving theidentification of the data structure and the access information from aconfiguration file;
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the step ofretrieving the access information comprises the step of retrieving theidentification of the data structure and the access information from acomment of the source code.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein theportion of the data structure comprises the attribute field of the datastructure.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the source code comprisesa class.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein the source code comprises adistributed computing component.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein thedistributed computing component is an Enterprise JavaBean™.
 17. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the step of generating the new attribute inthe source code comprises the step of generating a method in the sourcecode to access the attribute field of the data structure.
 18. A methodin a data processing system having source code that corresponds to adata structure on a secondary storage device, the method comprising thesteps of: receiving an indication to update the source code; determiningwhether a first attribute in the source code is associated with a firstattribute field in the data structure; when it is determined that afirst attribute in the source code is not associated with a firstattribute field in the data structure, removing the first attribute fromthe source code; determining whether a second attribute field in thedata structure is associated with a second attribute in the source code;and when it is determined that a second attribute field is notassociated with a second attribute in the source code, generating thesecond attribute in the source code from the second attribute field andassociating the second attribute with the second attribute field. 19.The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of retrieving anidentification of the data structure and access information for thesecondary storage from a comment in the source code.
 20. The method ofclaim 19, further comprising the step of retrieving a portion of thedata structure from the secondary storage device using the accessinformation.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the portion comprisesthe first and the second attribute fields.
 22. The method of claim 18,wherein the step of removing the first attribute from the source codecomprises the step of removing a method associated with the firstattribute from the source code.
 23. The method of claim 18, wherein thestep of generating the second attribute in the source code comprises thestep of generating a method in the source code to access the secondattribute field of the data structure.
 24. A method in a data processingsystem having a memory device with source code and a secondary storagedevice with a data structure corresponding to the source code, themethod comprising the steps of: receiving an indication that the datastructure has been modified; and automatically reflecting themodification in the source code so as to avoid completely regeneratingthe source code.
 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the step ofautomatically reflecting the modification comprises the steps of:determining whether a first attribute in the source code is associatedwith a first attribute field in the data structure; and when it isdetermined that a first attribute in the source code is not associatedwith a first attribute field in the data structure, removing the firstattribute from the source code.
 26. The method of claim 25, wherein thestep of removing the first attribute from the source code comprises thestep of removing a first method associated with the first attribute inthe source code.
 27. The method of claim 25, wherein the step ofautomatically reflecting the modification further comprises the stepsof: determining whether a second attribute field in the data structureis associated with a second attribute in the source code; and when it isdetermined that a second attribute field in the data structure is notassociated with a second attribute in the source code, generating thesecond attribute in the source code from the second attribute field andassociating the second attribute with the second attribute field. 28.The method of claim 27, wherein the step of generating the secondattribute in the source code comprises the step of generating a secondmethod in the source code to access the second attribute field of thedata structure.
 29. The method of claim 24, further comprising the stepof displaying a graphical representation of the source code.
 30. Themethod of claim 29, further comprising the step of modifying thegraphical representation of the source code to reflect the modification.31. The method of claim 24, wherein the source code comprises a class.32. The method of claim 24, wherein the source code comprises adistributed computing component.
 33. The method of claim 32, wherein thedistributed computing component is an Enterprise JavaBean™.
 34. A methodin a data processing system having a memory device with source code, themethod comprising the steps of: determining whether the source code isassociated with a data structure; when it is determined that the sourcecode is associated with the data structure, determining whether a firstattribute in the source code is associated with a first attribute fieldof the data structure; when it is determined that the first attribute inthe source code is not associated with the first attribute field in thedata structure, generating the first attribute field in the datastructure; determining whether a second attribute field in the datastructure is associated with a second attribute in the source code; andwhen it is determined that the second attribute field is not associatedwith the second attribute in the source code, removing the secondattribute field from the data structure.
 35. The method of claim 34,further comprising the step of when it is determined that the sourcecode is not associated with the data structure, generating the datastructure from the source code.
 36. The method of claim 34, wherein thestep of determining whether the source code is associated with the datastructure comprises the step of searching a comment in the source codefor an identification of the data structure.
 37. The method of claim 34,wherein the step of determining whether the source code is associatedwith the data structure comprises the step of comparing a name for thesource code with an identification of the data structure.
 38. The methodof claim 34, further comprising the steps of: retrieving accessinformation for a database that stores the data structure; andretrieving a portion of the data structure from the database using theaccess information.
 39. The method of claim 38, wherein the step ofretrieving the access information comprises the step of retrieving anidentification of the data structure and the access information from aconfiguration file.
 40. The method of claim 38, wherein the step ofretrieving the access information comprises the step of retrieving anidentification of the data structure and the access information from acomment of the source code.
 41. The method of claim 38, wherein theportion of the data structure comprises the first attribute field in thedata structure.
 42. The method of claim 34, wherein the source codecomprises a class.
 43. The method of claim 34, wherein the source codecomprises a distributed computing component.
 44. The method of claim 34,wherein the first attribute field in the data structure is related to amethod in the source code.
 45. A method in a data processing systemhaving a memory device with source code, the method comprising the stepsof: receiving an indication to update a data structure related to thesource code; determining whether a first attribute field of the datastructure is associated with a first attribute in the source code; whenit is determined that the first attribute field of the data structure isnot associated with the first attribute of the source code, removing thefirst attribute field from the data structure; determining whether asecond attribute in the source code is associated with a secondattribute field in the data structure; and when it is determined thatthe second attribute is not associated with the second attribute fieldin the data structure, adding the second attribute field to the datastructure.
 46. The method of claim 45, further comprising the steps of:retrieving access information for a database that stores the datastructure; and retrieving a portion of the data structure from thedatabase using the access information.
 47. The method of claim 46,wherein the step of retrieving the access information comprises the stepof retrieving an identification of the data structure and the accessinformation from a configuration file.
 48. The method of claim 46,wherein the step of retrieving the access information comprises the stepof retrieving an identification of the data structure and the accessinformation from a comment of the source code.
 49. The method of claim46, wherein the portion of the data structure comprises the firstattribute field in the data structure.
 50. The method of claim 45,wherein the source code comprises a class.
 51. The method of claim 45,wherein the source code comprises a distributed computing component. 52.A method in a data processing system having a memory device with sourcecode and a secondary storage device with a data structure correspondingto the source code, the method comprising the steps of: receiving anindication that the source code has been modified; and automaticallyreflecting the modification in the data structure so as to avoidcompletely regenerating the data structure.
 53. The method of claim 52,wherein the step of automatically reflecting the modification comprisesthe steps of: determining whether a first attribute in the source codeis associated with a first attribute field of the data structure; andwhen it is determined that a first attribute is not associated with afirst attribute field in the data structure, generating the firstattribute field in the data structure.
 54. The method of claim 52,further comprising the steps of: determining whether a second attributefield in the data structure is associated with a second attribute in thesource code; and when it is determined that a second attribute field isnot associated with a second attribute in the source code, removing thesecond attribute field from the data structure.
 55. The method of claim52, further comprising the steps of: retrieving access information for adatabase that stores the data structure; and retrieving a portion of thedata structure from the database using the access information.
 56. Themethod of claim 55, wherein the step of retrieving the accessinformation comprises the step of retrieving an identification of thedata structure and the access information from a configuration file. 57.The method of claim 55, wherein the step of retrieving the accessinformation comprises the step of retrieving an identification of thedata structure and the access information from a comment of the sourcecode.
 58. The method of claim 55, wherein the portion of the datastructure comprises the first attribute field in the data structure. 59.The method of claim 52, wherein the source code comprises a class. 60.The method of claim 52, wherein the source code comprises a distributedcomputing component.
 61. The method of claim 52, wherein the firstattribute field in the data structure is related to a method in thesource code.
 62. A computer-readable medium containing instructions forcontrolling a data processing system to perform a method, the methodcomprising the steps of: receiving an identification of a data structurewith an attribute field in a database; determining whether the datastructure is associated with source code; when it is determined that thedata structure is associated with source code, determining whether theattribute field of the data structure is associated with an attribute inthe source code; and when it is determined that the attribute field isnot associated with an attribute in the source code, generating a newattribute in the source code from the attribute field.
 63. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 62, wherein the method furthercomprises the steps of: when it is determined that the data structure isnot associated with source code, retrieving a portion of the datastructure; and generating the source code from the portion of the datastructure.
 64. The computer-readable medium of claim 62, wherein themethod further comprises the steps of: when it is determined that thedata structure is associated with source code, determining whether asecond attribute in the source code is associated with a secondattribute field in the data structure; and when it is determined that asecond attribute in the source code is not associated with a secondattribute field in the data structure, removing the second attributefrom the source code.
 65. The computer-readable medium of claim 64,wherein the step of removing the second attribute from the source codecomprises the step of removing a method associated with the secondattribute from the source code.
 66. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 64, wherein the method further comprises the step of displaying agraphical representation of the source code.
 67. The computer-readablemedium of claim 66, wherein the method further comprises the step ofmodifying the graphical representation of the source code to reflect thegeneration of the new attribute.
 68. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 66, wherein the method further comprises the step of modifying thegraphical representation of the source code to reflect the removal ofthe second attribute.
 69. The computer-readable medium of claim 62,wherein the step of determining whether the data structure is associatedwith the source code comprises the step of searching a comment in thesource code for the identification of the data structure.
 70. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 62, wherein the step of determiningwhether the data structure is associated with the source code comprisesthe step of comparing a name for the source code with the identificationof the data structure.
 71. The computer-readable medium of claim 62,wherein the method further comprises the steps of: retrieving accessinformation for the database; and retrieving a portion of the datastructure from the database using the access information.
 72. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 71, wherein the step of retrieving theaccess information comprises the step of retrieving the identificationof the data structure and the access information from a configurationfile;
 73. The computer-readable medium of claim 71, wherein the step ofretrieving the access information comprises the step of retrieving theidentification of the data structure and the access information from acomment of the source code.
 74. The computer-readable medium of claim71, wherein the portion of the data structure comprises the attributefield of the data structure.
 75. The computer-readable medium of claim62, wherein the source code comprises a class.
 76. The computer-readablemedium of claim 62, wherein the source code comprises a distributedcomputing component.
 77. The computer-readable medium of claim 76,wherein the distributed computing component is an Enterprise JavaBean™.78. The computer-readable medium of claim 62, wherein the step ofgenerating the new attribute in the source code comprises the step ofgenerating a method in the source code to access the attribute field ofthe data structure.
 79. A computer-readable medium containinginstructions for controlling a data processing system to perform amethod, the data processing system having source code that correspondsto a data structure on a secondary storage device, the method comprisingthe steps of: receiving an indication to update the source code;determining whether a first attribute in the source code is associatedwith a first attribute field in the data structure, when it isdetermined that a first attribute in the source code is not associatedwith a first attribute field in the data structure, removing the firstattribute from the source code; determining whether a second attributefield in the data structure is associated with a second attribute in thesource code; and when it is determined that a second attribute field isnot associated with a second attribute in the source code, generatingthe second attribute in the source code from the second attribute fieldand associating the second attribute with the second attribute field.80. The computer-readable medium of claim 79, wherein the method furthercomprises the step of retrieving an identification of the data structureand access information for the secondary storage from a comment in thesource code.
 81. The computer-readable medium of claim 80, wherein themethod further comprises the step of retrieving a portion of the datastructure from the secondary storage device using the accessinformation.
 82. The computer-readable medium of claim 81, wherein theportion comprises the first and the second attribute fields.
 83. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 79, wherein the step of removing thefirst attribute from the source code comprises the step of removing amethod associated with the first attribute from the source code.
 84. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 79, wherein the step of generating thesecond attribute in the source code comprises the step of generating amethod in the source code to access the second attribute field of thedata structure.
 85. A computer-readable medium containing instructionsfor controlling a data processing system to perform a method, the dataprocessing system having a memory device with source code and asecondary storage device with a data structure corresponding to thesource code, the method comprising the steps of: receiving an indicationthat the data structure has been modified; and automatically reflectingthe modification in the source code so as to avoid completelyregenerating the source code.
 86. The computer-readable medium of claim85, wherein the step of automatically reflecting the modificationcomprises the steps of: determining whether a first attribute in thesource code is associated with a first attribute field in the datastructure; and when it is determined that a first attribute in thesource code is not associated with a first attribute field in the datastructure, removing the first attribute from the source code.
 87. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 86, wherein the step of removing thefirst attribute from the source code comprises the step of removing afirst method associated with the first attribute in the source code. 88.The computer-readable medium of claim 86, wherein the step ofautomatically reflecting the modification further comprises the stepsof: determining whether a second attribute field in the data structureis associated with a second attribute in the source code; and when it isdetermined that a second attribute field in the data structure is notassociated with a second attribute in the source code, generating thesecond attribute in the source code from the second attribute field andassociating the second attribute with the second attribute field. 89.The computer-readable medium of claim 88, wherein the step of generatingthe second attribute in the source code comprises the step of generatinga second method in the source code to access the second attribute fieldof the data structure.
 90. The computer-readable medium of claim 85,wherein the method further comprises the step of displaying a graphicalrepresentation of the source code.
 91. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 90, wherein the method further comprises the step of modifying thegraphical representation of the source code to reflect the modification.92. The computer-readable medium of claim 85, wherein the source codecomprises a class.
 93. The computer-readable medium of claim 85, whereinthe source code comprises a distributed computing component.
 94. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 93, wherein the distributed computingcomponent is an Enterprise JavaBean™.
 95. A computer-readable mediumcontaining instructions for controlling a data processing system toperform a method, the data processing system having a memory device withsource code, the method comprising the steps of: determining whether thesource code is associated with a data structure; when it is determinedthat the source code is associated with the data structure, determiningwhether a first attribute in the source code is associated with a firstattribute field of the data structure; when it is determined that thefirst attribute in the source code is not associated with the firstattribute field in the data structure, generating the first attributefield in the data structure; determining whether a second attributefield in the data structure is associated with a second attribute in thesource code; and when it is determined that the second attribute fieldis not associated with the second attribute in the source code, removingthe second attribute field from the data structure.
 96. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 95, wherein the method furthercomprises the step of when it is determined that the source code is notassociated with the data structure, generating the data structure fromthe source code.
 97. The computer-readable medium of claim 95, whereinthe step of determining whether the source code is associated with thedata structure comprises the step of searching a comment in the sourcecode for an identification of the data structure.
 98. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 95, wherein the step of determiningwhether the source code is associated with the data structure comprisesthe step of comparing a name for the source code with an identificationof the data structure.
 99. The computer-readable medium of claim 95,wherein the method further comprises the steps of: retrieving accessinformation for a database that stores the data structure; andretrieving a portion of the data structure from the database using theaccess information.
 100. The computer-readable medium of claim 99,wherein the step of retrieving the access information comprises the stepof retrieving an identification of the data structure and the accessinformation from a configuration file.
 101. The computer-readable mediumof claim 99, wherein the step of retrieving the access informationcomprises the step of retrieving an identification of the data structureand the access information from a comment of the source code.
 102. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 99, wherein the portion of the datastructure comprises the first attribute field in the data structure.103. The computer-readable medium of claim 95, wherein the source codecomprises a class.
 104. The computer-readable medium of claim 95,wherein the source code comprises a distributed computing component.105. The computer-readable medium of claim 95, wherein the firstattribute field in the data structure is related to a method in thesource code.
 106. A computer-readable medium containing instructions forcontrolling a data processing system to perform a method, the dataprocessing system having a memory device with source code, the methodcomprising the steps of: receiving an indication to update a datastructure related to the source code; determining whether a firstattribute field of the data structure is associated with a firstattribute in the source code; when it is determined that the firstattribute field of the data structure is not associated with the firstattribute of the source code, removing the first attribute field fromthe data structure; determining whether a second attribute in the sourcecode is associated with a second attribute field in the data structure;and when it is determined that the second attribute is not associatedwith the second attribute field in the data structure, adding the secondattribute field to the data structure.
 107. The computer-readable mediumof claim 106, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:retrieving access information for a database that stores the datastructure; and retrieving a portion of the data structure from thedatabase using the access information.
 108. The computer-readable mediumof claim 107, wherein the step of retrieving the access informationcomprises the step of retrieving an identification of the data structureand the access information from a configuration file.
 109. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 107, wherein the step of retrievingthe access information comprises the step of retrieving anidentification of the data structure and the access information from acomment of the source code.
 110. The computer-readable medium of claim107, wherein the portion of the data structure comprises the firstattribute field in the data structure.
 111. The computer-readable mediumof claim 106, wherein the source code comprises a class.
 112. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 106, wherein the source code comprisesa distributed computing component.
 113. A computer-readable mediumcontaining instructions for controlling a data processing system toperform a method, the data processing system having a memory device withsource code and a secondary storage device with a data structurecorresponding to the source code, the method comprising the steps of:receiving an indication that the source code has been modified; andautomatically reflecting the modification in the data structure so as toavoid completely regenerating the data structure.
 114. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 113, wherein the step of automaticallyreflecting the modification comprises the steps of: determining whethera first attribute in the source code is associated with a firstattribute field of the data structure; and when it is determined that afirst attribute is not associated with a first attribute field in thedata structure, generating the first attribute field in the datastructure.
 115. The computer-readable medium of claim 113, wherein themethod further comprises the steps of: determining whether a secondattribute field in the data structure is associated with a secondattribute in the source code; and when it is determined that a secondattribute field is not associated with a second attribute in the sourcecode, removing the second attribute field from the data structure. 116.The computer-readable medium of claim 113, wherein the method furthercomprises the steps of: retrieving access information for a databasethat stores the data structure; and retrieving a portion of the datastructure from the database using the access information.
 117. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 116, wherein the step of retrievingthe access information comprises the step of retrieving anidentification of the data structure and the access information from aconfiguration file.
 118. The computer-readable medium of claim 116,wherein the step of retrieving the access information comprises the stepof retrieving an identification of the data structure and the accessinformation from a comment of the source code.
 119. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 116, wherein the portion of the datastructure comprises the first attribute field in the data structure.120. The computer-readable medium of claim 113, wherein the source codecomprises a class.
 121. The computer-readable medium of claim 113,wherein the source code comprises a distributed computing component.122. The computer-readable medium of claim 113, wherein the firstattribute field in the data structure is related to a method in thesource code.
 123. A data processing system comprising: a secondarystorage device further comprising source code that corresponds to a datastructure on a secondary storage device; a memory device furthercomprising a program that receives an indication to update the sourcecode, that determines whether a first attribute in the source code isassociated with a first attribute field in the data structure, and whenit is determined that a first attribute in the source code is notassociated with a first attribute field in the data structure, theprogram removes the first attribute from the source code, the programfurther determines whether a second attribute field in the datastructure is associated with a second attribute in the source code, andwhen it is determined that a second attribute field is not associatedwith a second attribute in the source code, the program generates thesecond attribute in the source code from the second attribute field andassociating the second attribute with the second attribute field; and aprocessor for running the program.
 124. The data processing system ofclaim 123, wherein the program further retrieves an identification ofthe data structure and access information for the secondary storage froma comment in the source code.
 125. The data processing system of claim124, wherein the program further retrieves a portion of the datastructure from the secondary storage device using the accessinformation.
 126. The data processing system of claim 125, wherein theportion comprises the first and the second attribute fields.
 127. Thedata processing system of claim 123, wherein when the program removesthe first attribute from the source code, the program removes a methodassociated with the first attribute from the source code.
 128. The dataprocessing system of claim 123, wherein when the program generates thesecond attribute in the source code, the program generates a method inthe source code to access the second attribute field of the datastructure.
 129. A data processing system comprising: a secondary storagedevice further comprising source code; a memory device furthercomprising a program that receives an indication to update a datastructure related to the source code, that determines whether a firstattribute field of the data structure is associated with a firstattribute in the source code, and when it is determined that the firstattribute field of the data structure is not associated with the firstattribute of the source code, the program removes the first attributefield from the data structure, the program further determines whether asecond attribute in the source code is associated with a secondattribute field in the data structure, and when it is determined thatthe second attribute is not associated with the second attribute fieldin the data structure, the program adds the second attribute field tothe data structure; and a processor for running the program.
 130. Thedata processing system of claim 129, wherein when the program furtherretrieves access information for a database that stores the datastructure, and retrieves a portion of the data structure from thedatabase using the access information.
 131. The data processing systemof claim 130, wherein when the program retrieves the access information,the program retrieves an identification of the data structure and theaccess information from a configuration file.
 132. The data processingsystem of claim 130, wherein when the program retrieves the accessinformation, the program retrieves an identification of the datastructure and the access information from a comment of the source code.133. The data processing system of claim 130, wherein the portion of thedata structure comprises the first attribute field in the datastructure.
 134. The data processing system of claim 129, wherein thesource code comprises a class.
 135. The data processing system of claim129, wherein the source code comprises a distributed computingcomponent.
 136. A system having a memory device with source code and asecondary storage device with a data structure corresponding to thesource code, the system comprising: means for receiving an indicationthat the data structure has been modified; and means for automaticallyreflecting the modification in the source code so as to avoid completelyregenerating the source code.